Romney in Iowa? Bad Idea, Former Allies Say

By Alex Roarty

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Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, makes his way to his vehicle after speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, in May.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Many Iowa-based Republicans goaded Mitt Romney for months to treat their state not as an afterthought but a launch-pad for his presidential campaign. And the former Massachusetts governor, after wavering most of the fall, has finally acquiesced - sending mailers, opening new campaign offices and, according to The New York Times, planning to air TV ads.

So are those same Republicans now crowing Romney made the right call? Not exactly.

In interviews with the National Journal, several in-state Republicans expressed serious reservations about the timing of the GOP front-runner's decision, arguing that deciding to invest in the state at this late date - little more than a month before the Jan. 3 caucuses - might represent his worst-possible scenario.

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